


To be a family

by wordsonpages



Series: Three makes family [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Anxiety, Autism, F/M, Family, Fluff, Some angst, lots of feelings, meltdowns, young parent bughead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 18:39:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12348372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsonpages/pseuds/wordsonpages
Summary: Being 20 years old and figuring out life is hard. It's harder when you have a four year old son. It's a little bit more hard when that son has autism. But it's worth it when you have the love of your life by your side and the most adorable, amazing child on the planet.Part of the "three makes family" series, and a companion piece to expecting [this was actually written first from a tumblr prompt] whereby, Betty and Jughead have a baby at 16 .





	To be a family

**Author's Note:**

> So this piece was written from this tumblr prompt-
> 
> "betty and jug had a baby when they were 16 and are now 20, their boy was born with a type of autism and everyone felt 'bad' for them he had the type of autism where he wont look anyone in the eye and everything had to be done to a schedule but him and jug have a really good connection. all 3 go out to lunch and their son has a massive tantrum and jug has to settle him and betty feels helpless and has a breakdown, its okay if you dont know how to approach this it was just a thought i had :)"
> 
> I would just like to add a little disclaimer here that I am by no means an expert in this field but I did do a bit of research before writing this so I hope that I don’t offend anyone or invalidate anyone with this piece.   
> So basically I tried to make the symptoms of their child’s autism ingrained throughout the story without explicitly stating what they are but for reference I went mostly with communication difficulty [impaired, delayed speech, repetitive speech], difficulty with eye contact, obsession and slight aversion to touch. 
> 
> enjoy xx

“Ready Jug?” Betty called from the living room eyes darting around as she mentally ran through the list of supplies she needed for their outing. The blonde nodded her head in affirmation, satisfied that she had managed to cram everything they could possibly need in the day bag.

The sound of two sets of footsteps padding down the hallway of their small home pre-empted her answer before it was delivered from the aforementioned party. 

“Yeah babe.”

Grabbing the day bag off the coffee table and slinging it over her shoulder Betty turned toward Jughead’s voice. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips as she took in the sight of her long-term boyfriend leaning against the door frame, _their_ almost four year old son standing close to his father’s legs- not quite touching.

It was a vision that never failed to make her heart contract and warmth spread throughout her being.

Noticing her smile, Jughead’s lips twitched in retaliation. He raised a dark eyebrow at her teasingly.

“I think your mum’s checking me out bud,” Jughead quipped casting a glance down at Ollie who was idly fiddling with his fingers and watching the floor.

“Don’t flatter yourself Jones,” the young mother teased back, rolling her eyes at him good naturedly, “Okay let’s get going or Kevin’s going to lecture us on the value of respect again.”

Jughead let out a laugh at that, nodding before pushing himself off the door frame.

“Out,” Ollie mumbled glancing up at his father with wide eyes and scrunched brows that made the young man’s heart clench with affection.

“Yeah Ol, she won’t admit it though,” he kneeled down to his son’s level, placing a sure hand on his arm and waiting a moment before picking him up and settling the toddler on his hip.

Jughead grabbed his keys from the bowl near the door before opening the front door.

“It’s not even his event,” he threw over his shoulder to Betty continuing on with their conversation as though there had been no interruption; a norm after parenthood had dawned upon them.

The blonde merely shrugged, moving past him out the door way.

“Yes, although I think Veronica would probably appreciate our punctuality as well, she’s only in town for a few more days and it is her birthday,” Betty replied.

“Birthday,” Ollie mumbled as the pair manoeuvred him into the car seat. Betty smiled at her son, finishing buckling his seat belt as Jughead hopped in the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“That’s right, Aunt V’s birthday,” she affirmed, smoothing down Ollie’s wild blonde curls.  The toddler squirmed away from her touch, his blue eyes flicking to the floor.  Betty removed her hand and sighed.

She tried her best not to take her son’s aversion personally. He wasn’t as severely adverse or hypersensitive to touch as other children on the autism spectrum but it did still bother him. She and Jughead had learned resilience in showing affection to their son. He was mostly okay when the touch was heavy and anticipatory; it was the soft brushes of affection that they would sometimes slip up with through instinct that he would flinch away from.

They had learned to understand and adapt to the quality in their son, but it didn’t mean it made it any easier to have the little person you loved so much recoil from you. Betty cherished the moments when Ollie sought her out for physical affection or comfort and tried to remind herself of those moments during the moments when he shied away from her. She respected his discomfort, but it didn’t make her heart ache any less.

“Betts?” Jughead’s voice broke Betty from her reverie. She blinked a few times before meeting his gaze in the rear view mirror.  His tone was soft and understanding and Betty felt herself falling a little further in love with him in that moment- except it wasn’t just that moment it was a million moments since they were 16 and he had promised her that they would make this work.

She smiled back at him, a small curve of the lips tilting more toward the side of genuine than placatory, before closing the back car door and moving to climb in the passenger seat.

Her right hand immediately found the stereo, while Jughead’s immediately clasped her left, his other holding a firm grip on the wheel as they set off on the relatively short drive to Greendale. Veronica had booked a table at the new bistro that had opened there and although both Jughead and Betty always enjoyed seeing their friends whom were only in town for a short while longer the latter couldn’t deny that the unfamiliar venue caused an uncomfortable pressure to erupt in her chest.

Sensing her unease Jughead gave her hand a squeeze. Betty took a deep breath and let her eyes card over his form, finding comfort in his beauty. His sharp jaw, striking blue eyes and dark hair [still partially covered by a beanie] were features that had only become more attractive as he matured and she still found herself in awe of being able to call him hers after almost five years together.

The windows were rolled down slightly and Betty let the warm summer air calm her as it drifted across her skin. The sounds of the Rolling Stones filtered through the stereo of the truck and Betty couldn’t help but laugh as Ollie bounced happily in the back to the sound. He loved all music, but classic rock was his favourite, something Jughead was exceptionally proud of.

The peaceful feeling didn’t last though. Twenty minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant and Betty could see her friend’s various vehicles littered across the spaces. Her hands clenched nervously once Jughead had to pull his away to park the truck.

“Dad,” Ollie shouted from the back seat and Jughead turned around after shutting off the engine.

“Yeah bud?”

“Dad, music,” Jughead was spun around in his seat now, giving Ollie his full attention while Betty was busying herself grabbing the day bag and Veronica’s present from the back seat.

“We’ll listen to more later, but now we have to go inside,” the dark haired man tried to assure.

“Music!” Ollie’s hands were fidgeting and his eyebrows were scrunched, with a little pout to rival his mother’s best signalling his impending distress.

“Na bud, how about we talk about trains instead?” He placated, quickly unlocking his phone and pulling up some pictures he had saved of the freight vehicles to occupy his son’s attention.

It seemed to do the trick as Ollie grabbed the device eagerly and started babbling nonsensically a few delayed moments later about Thomas the Tank engine and his favourite trains.

Moving out of the car, Jughead came up to the passenger side and carefully extracted Ollie from his car seat, placing the little blonde boy on his chubby legs. Kneeling down Jughead held his hand out.

“Can I have my phone back please?” Ollie kept his blue eyes that mirrored his fathers trained on the asphalt ground, shaking his head.

“Thomas… blue train and Percy-“

Jughead nodded, engaging his son’s conversation.

“Yeah that’s very true but dad needs his phone back now. I promise you can have it back once we’re inside,” he tried to reason with him, ducking his head a little to meet Ollie’s eyes. The toddler shuffled flicking his eyes between his dad and the ground.

Betty bit her lip to hold back a small chuckle of amusement at the stubborn little boy; she knew he didn’t refuse in order to be stubborn but it was still endearing to her to see his eye brows furrowed so much like his father’s.

Moving gently down to kneel beside him, Betty ensured Ollie acknowledged her presence before placing her hands on his arms.

“Ollie if you don’t give Daddy back his phone then he’s going to have to carry you inside and no one will know what a big boy you are now,” she stated in a firm but not threatening tone. Their little boy’s eyes widened for a second, flicking to his mother. She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at the adorably conflicted look on his face.

“Okay, I guess mum’s right,” Jughead began, moving as though he was going to pick Ollie up. The toddler’s hands quickly shot out, offering the phone back to his dad immediately. Jughead smirked as he and Betty shared a brief look with equal amusement shining in their gazes.

“Thanks little man,” Jughead said pocketing the phone, while Betty smiled at her son in gratitude.

“Big boy,” he uttered offering his hand to his mother to hold as they began to walk towards the front door.

“That’s right,” the blonde agreed, handing the bag over to Jughead.

Jughead paused before opening the door, turning to Betty.

“Did I tell you that you look gorgeous today Betty Cooper?” he asked in mock concern. Betty laughed, finding herself appreciating his ability to ease her nerves all over again.

“Shut up,” she murmured pecking his lips, before following him through the doors of the restaurant.

“Betty!” Veronica’s enthusiastic voice rang across the room before the young woman morphed into a blur of raven hair and purple fabric, practically throwing herself at her best friend. Betty laughed at her friend’s antics, holding her ground firmly as not to jostle her son- who was still holding her hand- too much.

“Happy Birthday V,” she said as they broke from their embrace, holding out a small neatly wrapped package to the socialite. Veronica beamed her eyes soft yet alight with the excitement of being around her friends and the attention of her birthday.

“Happy Birthday Veronica,” Jughead offered with a smile, Veronica turned her attention to him then, leaning across to kiss his cheek.

“Thankyou Jughead. And how’s my favourite little man?” Veronica inquired offering Ollie a warm smile.

“Trains dad,” Ollie insisted completely ignoring the birthday girl, who merely waved off Betty’s sheepish apology and led them to the long table toward the side of the open room.

As they shuffled between chairs Betty cast a look behind her shoulder at her boyfriend who was currently juggling the day bag, the car keys and a very enthusiastic Ollie who he was managing to keep up a very engaged conversation about trains with. Jughead met her eyes with and offered her a boyish smile and nodded his head toward the table. Any guilt that Betty had at effectively leaving him with all the responsibilities instantly vanished with his reassuring glance.

“Ladies and gentlemen Riverdale’s very own Haley and Nathan Scott,” Veronica joked as they approached the long table filled with their friends.

“What?” Archie questioned face scrunched in confusion.

Veronica sighed dramatically in resignation of their lack of pop culture education.

“Never mind.”

“Hey guys,” Betty greeted, accepting Archie’s hug as he stood up to greet her; Kevin who was situated on the other side of the table merely waved as standing would have created an awkward shuffling congregation of people in the somewhat crowded restaurant.

“You guys are on the end and I can get the waiter to bring over a highchair if you want?” Veronica offered, while Archie was helping Jughead sort out the things he was carrying.

“Thanks V but don’t worry he’s a bit old for the highchair now,” Betty laughed, nudging the dark haired girl in jest. It was these moments when she was reminded of the distance in their small group as they all grew up and came into adults of their own. When she was reminded of how estranged her and Jughead had become from other people their age.

Veronica blushed slightly but laughed it off returning to her seat next to Archie’s.

“The tracks… ground and…” Ollie continued to orate in his slightly delayed and impaired chatter while Jughead sat him in the chair next to his own and Betty sat beside the birthday girl.

“Sorry we’re a little late,” Jughead apologised once they had settled.

“I’ll forgive it this time but only because the birthday Queen forbade me from lecture giving today,” Kevin chimed in, his voice light and his sassiness complete with an overzealous and obviously joking eye role.

“Well we do have a pretty good excuse most of the time,” Jughead quipped back in his usual sardonic manner, although clearly not offended.

Laughter emerged across the table; however, the connotation of how different their lives were was not lost on the group.

And as the conversation continued Betty couldn’t help but reflect on exactly how differently their lives had shaped up to be. While their friends put forth conversational topics about college courses, part time jobs, dorm rooms and room-mates the young parents let them be privy to the small window of pre-school and full time work for Fred Andrews, of speech pathologist and doctors’ appointments, of grocery stores and strict routines. The looks on their faces were always the same- shock and a hint of pity with a tinge of pride and respect. The juxtaposition of the life she thought she would be living at 20 years old and the one that she was living made Betty’s head spin. They were two completely different universes. Neither Jughead nor she would change anything, Ollie and this family had become their world, but the drift between themselves and the group of college students they were surrounded by still made them ache a little.

“Dad really loves having you guys around Jug,” Archie commented after swallowing a mouth of food.

The red head waited a moment before pursuing the question. His beanie wearing brother’s unresponsiveness signalling he hadn’t heard.

“Jug?” he prodded, with a small chuckle.

The man in question was currently preoccupied with Ollie who was scribbling with crayons pausing every now and then to roll them around in his hands or accept a bite of food.

“Thomas… blue, dad. Favourite… Thomas,” the toddler drabbled while Jughead drew some random scribbles on the edge of the page.

“Mine too bud. Sorry arch?” He looked up at his red-headed best friend.

But before Archie could respond to the question the door of the restaurant chimed, signalling an entrance. A large group of workmen shuffled through the threshold bustling and boisterous. And as if the universe was looking to throw a curve ball, one of the members of that large group accidentally ran into a waitress carrying a tray stacked with dishware which was sent crashing to the floor. Glass shattered everywhere with a distinct crash, followed by shrill exclamations and raising voices.

Ollie’s face scrunched in discomfort as the noises grew. His fingers dropping the crayons and fiddling anxiously.

“Dad?” the little boy muttered. Jughead turned his eyes down his features becoming concerned.

Ollie’s hands became more aggressive in their movements as he began to shake his head.

“Dad!” he exclaimed.

Betty’s eyes met Jughead’s. They knew what was about to happen.

Within seconds Ollie was screaming and writhing, tears streaming down his face as his hands beat down on the table. His little body squirmed as his shrill screams trumped all other noise in the crowded restaurant.

The background noise faded away and all of a sudden all eyes were on their table.

Betty froze. Her friend’s eyes imploring them with panic as patrons of the restaurant began to whisper and stare, judgement in their eyes.

Ollie’s screaming continued. Betty felt her heart breaking as she took in her son having a meltdown.

Jughead quickly moved into action carefully taking Ollie in his arms and carrying him away from the table and briskly walking outside the restaurant away from the noise and the abrasive objects that could cause any harm to him.  Once out the door he placed the still screaming and fretting Ollie on his feet yet kept a hold of his hands, ensuring he was unable to hit himself. Their son was still profusely shaking his head as if attempting to dispel all of the noise from his brain. Jughead waited, not speaking yet, as he didn’t want to add to the sensory invasion that had triggered the kid so severely.

Yet she couldn’t move. Betty’s body was frozen under the weight of gazes, paralysed by the comments of strangers judging her child, judging her. Her hands slowly curled into fists, nails digging into palms as her breathing became shallow.

“Betty?” Veronica asked, gently placing a hand on her arm. Betty’s eyes darted between her best friend and the window where Jughead was attempting to console _their_ child. The guilt flooded her system immediately, only serving to exacerbate the anxiety she was already feeling. Her chest was aching and she couldn’t seem to actually get any air into her lungs. The room was almost spinning.

“B! Betty, breathe,” Veronica exclaimed alarmed. Her own gaze alternating between Jughead and Betty. She looked lost.

“I-“ Betty’s own attempt at a sentence was cut off by her own gasping inhales.

_“Did you see that child?”_

_“Young parents, god help us with this next generation”_

The voices of obnoxious middle aged women penetrated her mind, making her hands clench tighter.

“I just need a minute,” she managed to splutter out before getting up and rushing into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes and a lot of self-loathing, guilt ridden thoughts and breathing exercises later Betty finally re-emerged from the bathroom. Hair tied back in a low bun and sun dress sufficiently wrinkled.

As she made her way across to the table three pairs of eyes immediately landed on her, each with that same sympathetic, pitying gaze.

“Okay girl?” Veronica asked.

Betty nodded, feeling small and slightly embarrassed under the eyes of her friends. She could clearly see that they felt bad for her, were worrying about her. Meanwhile her boyfriend was outside still single handily coping with their son’s meltdown. God she felt terrible. The darkness in her heart chipping away.

“Arch can you pass me that bag?” she asked tiredly with a forced smile. Her sense and mother mode finally kicking into gear.

“Yeah sure Betts,” he nodded, reaching under the table to grab the day bag she had expertly packed and passing it to her.

Squaring her shoulders, Betty attuned to her tunnel vision focussing on the image on her boyfriend and son through the glass window and ignoring the stares and whispers of the pretentious patrons who somehow thought they had the right to comment on her family.

Betty’s heart clenched and her stomach dropped as she took in the sight of Jughead sitting on the on the footpath, their son curled in his arms now. It simultaneously broke her heart and filled her with so much for love.

This was pretty common. After the initial stages of the meltdown surpassed and he began to calm Ollie would crawl into their arms, seeking out comfort. One of the first things they had learned about dealing with his meltdowns was to let him seek comfort in them; don’t coddle. It was hard, fighting their every instinct to wrap him up and protect him but it became a practiced skill. Remove him from the situation, ensure he is in a safe space, try and eliminate stimulus, do not exacerbate stimulus.

“And do you know what kind of train Thomas is?” she heard Jughead murmur in their son’s ear, slowly extricating communication from him, as he began to calm in order to propel the diversion of his attention.

Ollie mumbled something into his chest and continued to stare down at his lap.

“Hey,” Betty greeted softly, the words travelling across the warm air to her boyfriend’s ears.

Jughead’s eyes softened as he took in the sight of her, dishevelled and clearly down trodden.

Ollie was still thrashing though less erratically now and his cries were more like strangled gasps than screams.

“Hi,” Jughead whispered, though his gaze let her in on the concern he was feeling for her in that moment.

Sighing, Betty came to sit down next to him. She slowly unzipped the bag and pulled out a set of headphones, plugging them into her phone and passing them to Jughead.

As he adjusted his grip on Ollie she hit play on the playlist specifically created to calm him and divert his attention. Jughead then very gently told Ollie he was going to put the headphones on before placing them atop his blonde curls and carefully over his ears.

They sat in silence for a while. They must have looked an interesting sight, two twenty year olds sitting on the curb outside a restaurant with their distraught toddler.

Her eyes were downcast, while his gaze was out straight ahead.

Betty lightly nudged the toe of his converse with her own, wanting more than anything to seek comfort in his touch at that moment. Her son needed it more though and she sure as hell would never deprive him.

The little retaliation of his shoe knocking against hers was enough for now though. The feeling of his body sat next to hers only inches away was enough. He was their rock.

“You okay?” Jughead asked after a few more minutes of deteriorating silence. Ollie was mostly settled now, the music calming him more than placatory words could.

Betty exhaled loudly, turning her eyes to meet his and offering a deprecating smile.

“No.”

Honesty. That’s what the two of them did. Jughead nodded.

“I don’t know what happened Juggie. I just froze, it was like my body wouldn’t move and there was so many people just _judging_ us. _Judging him_ like it was his fault. And then I couldn’t breathe and god I am such a terrible mother-“

“Hey,” he interrupted her sharply, a hand reaching out to gently entangle with her slender fingers.

“You Betty Cooper are the best mother this world has ever seen. And screw everyone else. Our family is none of their business,” Jughead spoke with a conviction that managed to untangle some of the knots in her stomach and send her soul locking itself further onto his.

She nodded in earnest, before letting their eyes flick to their son again who was now almost asleep in Jughead’s arms- a forty minute episode could do that to a kid.

“I don’t know what happened though Jug, it’s not like this is the first time this has happened. Meltdowns aren’t knew, we cope with them all the time. I just felt so helpless and you… god _you_ were so great-“ her words were flustered yet exhausted, coming out deprecating and thick with the emotion that was choking in her throat.

“Betty stop. You are allowed to have a panic attack. This isn’t easy and yes this is a part of parenthood for us that I know you are more than capable of handling but here’s the thing. You have an anxiety disorder. You were stressed about being in a new place and already tense. You are going to have your moments. You are human and you can’t control that any more than this one can.”

Betty wondered how it was that Jughead always knew exactly what to say to her. Five years later and he was still there picking up her broken pieces and reminding her to be careful with them but never asking her to fix them.

She was suddenly having a flashback to two sixteen year olds huddled on a bathroom floor. One blonde girl sobbing like a frazzled emotional mess, pregnancy test in hand while a flannel clad boy held her tight in his arms and promised her they would make it. He promised her he would be her rock, _hers_ forever. He told her she was his family always and that he couldn’t wait to have a family _with_ her.

And just like that sixteen year old girl, Betty found herself thanking god all over again for blessing her with such an amazing man to call her love.

“But you didn’t freeze,” her mouth betrayed her mind and her insecurities slipped out. Jughead’s hand tightened around hers.

“No but that’s the point of being a team right?” He asked so sincerely it almost hurt. Betty couldn’t help the smile that crept its way onto her lips then.

“Jughead Jones you truly are something else,” she shook her head in amazement.

Yeah they must have looked an odd little family, sitting on the curb outside a restaurant with a sleeping child when they were barely more than children themselves. But it was _their_ family and it was perfectly imperfect.

 


End file.
